I made a 10 gallon batch of ale with an OG of 54, Mar 19th. Nothing special about the fermentation as it went just like all of my other brews however I transferred to a secondary after two weeks in the primary. The gravity was 24. Now it has been two weeks + in the secondary and the gravity is 23. I used a London Ale yeast in 5 gallons and British Ale yeast in the other 5 gallons. Both are experiencing the same symptoms. My fermentation temp never really was low 68 to 70 degrees. I would blame the yeast but I used two strains. I have heard that if the gravity doesn't change for two to three consecutive days that you should be good to bottle. I just don't have the warm and fuzzy that it

Your problem could be from insufficient aeration, a dextrinous wort, or insufficient yeast count. How did you aerate the wort? Was this an extract batch--which brand? Some brands (Laaglander) are dextrinous compared to others. If it was all-grain, what was your mash temperature? How much yeast did you pitch and did you make a starter? You could add some dry yeast to see if it'll finish the job if the other yeast tired out early; however, if it's a dextrinous wort that won't help your problem as it's likely done. Yes, the prevailing wisdom is you can bottle if the gravity hasn't changed in 3 days.

Looking at your recipe, I think the main problem was the yeast--no starter, and they were probably tired; do you remember the manufacture date on the tube? The second problem would be the mash temperature, although if the yeast were less tired you could've easily gotten below an FG of 20.

Add some more yeast to see if it finishes out. Safale S-04 dry yeast is a British strain. If the gravity lowers after this step, then it'll at least let you know it was a yeast-related issue.

Estimating final gravity is way more difficult than estimating original gravity. The values in the calculators come from the attenuation range numbers on the yeast spec sheets (which don't factor in how unfermentable a wort is due to dextrins) It can be misleading. I used a yeast that was more attenuative than I had planned--it went beyond the published specs!

I started a yeast starter last night from two cups of water, 1/3 cup DME, 1 hop pellet and the yeast sediment from two of my homebrew bottles.
It appears that I am already starting to get fermentation. The plan is to dump the starter into my stuck batch tomorrow when I have full yeast activity.
I would have tried the dry yeast trick but the only yeast I have is champagne yeast for mead... didn't think that would work.

If this works... I will never again start a beer without a yeast starter.

Here is the latest update.
I roused the beer after I pitched the yeast starter nothing happened. Not so much as a bubble so after three days of nothing, I bottled it with a FG of 23.
Now I have heard and seen the results of exploding bottles so I:
1. Only used 1/2 cup of priming sugar when I bottled
2. Used the thickest glass bottles I had to include my EZ Caps
3. Placed beer in a large picnic cooler and placed in the back room so that if one blows I will have a controlled cleanup.
4. I will be sampling weekly and if I note high carbonation the whole batch is in the frig. (I will brief the wife it is for her and my safety)

Thanks for the help on this one guys. I just wish I knew for sure why the beer didn't finish lower.
Regards
-James-